Mother, Arleta Ramirez, ordered to stop breastfeeding her 6-month-old daughter
American mom has been ordered to stop breastfeeding her six-month-old daughter after a judge in a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband, ruled that it was interfering with his time with their children.
Arleta Ramirez has been breastfeeding her daughter since she was born in July and had also breastfed her son, who is now two, the Washington Post reported.
According to the outlet Ramirez was ordered to ‘make every effort to place the child on a feeding schedule and use a bottle’ by a Prince William County judge in late November.
Beginning this month, the judge’s ruling also granted the children’s father, Mike Ridgway, four visitation days and overnight visits.
Ridgway complained that his daughter’s feeding times were interfering with his visits, but Ramirez who has had trouble pumping milk in the past, believes, like some experts, that ‘breast is best.’
She is preparing evidence for a hearing in April from breastfeeding experts as well as a letter from her pediatrician.
‘Why are they forcing me to stop breastfeeding she told the Washington Post. ‘Isn’t that her right Isn’t that in her best interest?’
Ridgway said that he had given Ramirez ‘space to both nurse and to pump milk for me to bottle-feed our daughter while she is in my care.’
‘Past the age of 6 months I will continue to support breastfeeding and bottle-feeding our daughter breast milk as much as possible, while also supplementing with formula only when absolutely necessary,’ he added.